November 2, 2012

Ranking the Major League Brands


Major League Baseball has two advantages working for it to help build strong brands. First, it is by far the oldest of the major sports leagues, giving it a deeper and richer history to draw from. Second, the baseball cap itself is a versatile fashion accessory, allowing it to transcend its traditional role as a part of the uniform and become ingrained as a cultural icon.

Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto still think its the 1990's, when every team was adding black and silver to their uniform. How a team with blue in their name fails to wear blue uniforms, or at least blue hats, is baffling. However, the biggest tragedy here is that the Jays had a very unique and effective system the first 20 years of their existence. It featured 3 shades of blue in the uniform and logo, and it remains so popular that the club has started wearing the powder blue versions again as an alternate. Clearly the logo is still popular with the fan base, and it was also the identity the club wore throughout its winning years in the 80s and early 90s. Its time for Toronto to ditch the current scheme (including the toothpaste away caps), and reinstate the proud Jay of the winning years.
Primary Logo - 2
Cap Logo - 3
Uniforms - 2
Uniqueness - 0
Total - 7

Colorado Rockies
A product of mid-90's expansion, the Rockies were doomed from the start as they are a double-offender with both black and silver in the identity, The purple may be ugly, but at least its unique and fitting, as it is the apparent color of the Rocky Mountain range. While the cap logo is decent, the entire system is plagued by an ugly thick stroke that makes all the letter almost unreadable. The uniforms are downright schizophrenic, as they include team name/city, numbers on front, pinstripes, sleeve stripes, AND a shirt/vest combination that doesn't match the pants whatsoever. The primary logo could be worse, but also tries to do too much. The team should start fresh with a nicely drawn lettering, and build a simpler system around it.
Primary Logo - 3
Cap Logo - 5
Uniforms - 2
Uniqueness - 1
Total - 11

Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are another frustrating identity mostly because, like the Blue Jays, they have such a wonderful logo buried in their archives. While the current system is unmemorable and boring, both the home and away scripts are very nicely drawn. Combine those with the infamous MB glove logo of the 80's, one of the most clever logos in the history of sports, and they'd have one one heck of a branding scheme. The roundness of the script plays well against the rounded forms of the glove as well, so the two wouldn't feel foreign against each other. It could work just as well with the current navy and gold color scheme as it would with the similar royal and yellow colors the club previously featured.
Primary Logo - 5
Cap Logo - 4
Uniforms - 4
Uniqueness - 2
Total - 15

Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona gets some credit for abandoning the putried scheme they had their first 9 years in the league. While the new system is light years better, its not very unique. They are following the newest trend of having either red or navy, combining it with black from the last trend.
Primary Logo - 5
Cap Logo - 7
Uniforms - 6
Uniqueness - 2
Total - 20

Kansas City Royals
Primary Logo - 6
Cap Logo - 7
Uniforms - 6
Uniqueness - 1
Total - 20

Washington Nationals
Primary Logo - 5.5
Cap Logo - 9.5
Uniforms - 7
Uniqueness - 4
Total - 21

Texas Rangers
Primary Logo - 3
Cap Logo - 7
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 3
Total - 21

Pittsburgh Pirates
Primary Logo - 1
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 5
Total - 22

Minnesota Twins
Primary Logo - 6
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 7
Uniqueness - 1
Total - 22

San Diego Padres
Primary Logo - 6.5
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 7
Uniqueness - 1
Total - 22.5

Tampa Bay Rays
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 7.5
Uniforms - 7
Uniquenesss - 2
Total - 23.5

Florida Marlins
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 7.5
Uniqueness - 2
Total - 24.5

New York Mets
Primary Logo - 6
Cap Logo - 8.5
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 4
Total - 26.5

Seattle Mariners
Primary Logo - 7.5
Cap Logo - 8.5
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 3
Total - 27

Baltimore Orioles
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 8.5
Uniqueness - 4
Total - 27.5

Atlanta Braves
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 5
Total - 28

Oakland Athletics
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 7.5
Uniforms - 9
Uniqueness - 5
Total - 28.5

LA Angels of Anaheim
Primary Logo - 8.5
Cap Logo - 8.5
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 4
Total - 29

Philadelphia Phillies
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 6
Total - 29

Chicago White Sox
Primary Logo - 8
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 6
Total - 30

Cincinnati Reds
Primary Logo - 8
Cap Logo - 9
Uniforms - 7
Uniqueness - 6
Total - 30

Houston Astros
Primary Logo - 7.5
Cap Logo - 8.5
Uniforms - 9
Uniqueness - 6
Total - 31

Cleveland Indians
Primary Logo - 8
Cap Logo - 8
Uniforms - 8.5
Uniqueness - 7
Total - 31.5

San Francisco Giants
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 8.5
Uniforms - 8.5
Uniqueness - 7.5
Total - 31.5

Detroit Tigers
Primary Logo - 8
Cap Logo - 9
Uniforms - 8
Uniqueness - 7
Total - 32

Boston Red Sox
Primary Logo - 8
Cap Logo - 9
Uniforms - 9
Uniqueness - 7
Total - 33

Los Angeles Dodgers
Primary Logo - 7.5
Cap Logo - 10
Uniforms - 9
Uniqueness - 7
Total - 33.5

Chicago Cubs
Primary Logo - 9.5
Cap Logo - 9
Uniforms - 9
Uniqueness - 8
Total - 35.5

St. Louis Cardinals
Primary Logo - 9
Cap Logo - 9
Uniforms - 9.5
Uniqueness - 8
Total - 35.5

New York Yankees
Primary Logo - 7
Cap Logo - 10
Uniforms - 10
Uniqueness - 9
Total - 36

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